Researchers Create a Magnet Made of One Molecule (phys.org) 27
Sometimes making a brand-new type of box requires outside-the-box thinking, which is exactly what Spartan chemists used to create an eight-atom, magnetic cube. Phys.Org reports: Part of what made the researchers' idea so wild was their choice to work with starting ingredients that are notoriously finicky in the chemistry community. One ingredient is a group of elements referred to as lanthanides, which occupy a special row toward the bottom of the periodic table of elements. The other is the metallic element bismuth, which doesn't typically get too much attention (although some may recognize it from its role in bright pink antacids such as Pepto Bismol).
By finding a way to combine the bismuth with a lanthanide element -- notably terbium or dysprosium -- they created a molecule with permanent magnetic features. It's the same magnetism found in bar magnets and hard disk drives, but at a much smaller scale. The small scale of molecular magnets offers technological opportunities, such as improving the storage capacity of magnetic hard drives. There are also emerging applications where conventional magnets may simply be too large to contribute, such as in processors for quantum computers.
The first single-molecule magnet was discovered about 30 years ago and, since then, researchers have been seeking new varieties with different physical and chemical attributes. They've also been working to develop more creative chemical approaches to make the magnets. The molecule itself, though, looks simple, belying the complexity of the process required to make it. The top and bottom of the molecule are capped with rings of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Each ring is linked to a lanthanide that forms a cube with the bismuth atoms. The researchers published their findings in the journal Chem.
By finding a way to combine the bismuth with a lanthanide element -- notably terbium or dysprosium -- they created a molecule with permanent magnetic features. It's the same magnetism found in bar magnets and hard disk drives, but at a much smaller scale. The small scale of molecular magnets offers technological opportunities, such as improving the storage capacity of magnetic hard drives. There are also emerging applications where conventional magnets may simply be too large to contribute, such as in processors for quantum computers.
The first single-molecule magnet was discovered about 30 years ago and, since then, researchers have been seeking new varieties with different physical and chemical attributes. They've also been working to develop more creative chemical approaches to make the magnets. The molecule itself, though, looks simple, belying the complexity of the process required to make it. The top and bottom of the molecule are capped with rings of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Each ring is linked to a lanthanide that forms a cube with the bismuth atoms. The researchers published their findings in the journal Chem.
Made? (Score:3)
So many molecules are already magnets.
This seems redundant.
Re: (Score:3)
Not to mention, the Lanthanide series elements in this molecule are expensive: They are rare earth metals; the kind that industry wants very much to get away from, because of the ecological and economic costs involved in their sourcing, refinement, and recycling.
Re:Made? (Score:4, Informative)
Lanthanide series elements in this molecule are expensive
Google says that terbium is $700 / kg and dysprosium is $260 / kg.
If you make a 10 TB HDD using ten molecules per byte (20% overhead for ECC), you will need 0.000000026 grams of terbium and 0.000000027 grams of dysprosium, for a total cost of $0.000000028.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
I see that you see the word "Expensive", and think only in terms of $$$.
Is your degree perchance, in economics?
Perhaps you should have read the sentence, which clearly stated that the costs are also ecological, not just economical, then educated yourself about the rather unpleasant realities of rare earth metal refinement and harvest, rather than jump straight to low $$$ values, that exist exclusively because China is willing to pollute its own soil and kill its citizens with toxic biproducts. (You know, th
Re:Made? (Score:4, Insightful)
the price will skyrocket
If the price goes up a million-fold, the cost of an HDD will go up by 3 cents.
When your application uses a nanogram, the cost of the material doesn't matter.
There are other applications for dysprosium and terbium that use trillions of times as much. You should worry about those instead.
Re: (Score:3)
This also ignores the fact that 90+% of such metal production occurs in just one country (Again, China, because nobody else wants to pollute their soil, water, and kill their citizens that way), meaning production cannot scale to meet demand for new technology like that-- meaning the price will skyrocket if you try to use it at scale like that.
Oh my god, if we mine our own rare earths, the price might go up by one or two orders of magnitude! And it will still be cheap AF. Wank wank, flonk flonk.
Re: (Score:2)
They are rare earth metals; the kind that industry wants very much to get away from
Positively derptastic hot take, thank you for sharing.
and recycling
Quit while you're behind.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, all molecules have a magnetic pole. Some stronger than others.
Nice that they made a stronger one but...
This is just hype, not new, out of box thinking.
Re: (Score:3)
Many molecules have a magnetic dipole moment all of their own.
So many molecules are already magnets.
This seems redundant.
All molecules are already magnetic.
Electron motion can't exist without associated electrical fields/current, which Faraday's Law of Induction shows will create magnetic fields. And quantum theory shows that these fields/currents are constantly changing, so at the molecular scale Faraday's Law is always relevant.
Even if you cool something really close to absolute zero, you can't actually get it to absolute zero. As far as we know, if you have some sort of "stuff," it will have interior motion, and therefo
TIL There is an element called "Dysprosium" (Score:2)
But there it is:
Dysprosium, Symbol Dy, Atomic Number 66.
Handing back my science degree tomorrow.
Re: (Score:3)
Dysprosium is used in super-magnets.
Super-magnets are important for wind turbines and electric vehicles.
99% of dysprosium is produced in China.
Re: (Score:2)
EVERYONE knows that !
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:1)
Well, I would have until today...
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The problem with that assessment is that you overpraise the British. You might as a few Irish as to whether the British are bullies. (There are other goups, but the Irish have a record going back to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] )
Once this becomes a commercial process.... (Score:3)
.... management will say that,to remain competitive in the marketplace, the workers will have to make magnets out of half a molecule.
Re: (Score:2)
The North half?
Re: (Score:2)
What's the innovation? (Score:3)
The phys.org article isn't clear about what makes this unique. I read it as "this group made a single molecule magnet! It's useful for lots of stuff! These magnets have been around for 30 years but this group made it with other elements."
The unique bit is at least in the abstract:
"Multimetallic lanthanide complexes lacking magnetic exchange coupling enable fast relaxation pathways that attenuate the full potential of these species. Employment of diamagnetic heavy main group elements with diffuse orbitals may lead to unprecedented strong coupling."
The implication is that other single molecule magnets use metals coupled to lanthanides, but have weak magnetic exchange coupling, so they relax (I assume they lose alignment quickly?). Bismuth apparently stabilizes it.